Walmart Introduces AI-Powered Shopping Experience with ‘Sparky’ App

Walmart has launched “Ask Sparky,” an AI-driven shopping assistant in its mobile app, designed to enhance customer engagement and boost sales. Users can activate Sparky, represented by a happy face emoji, to receive personalized shopping assistance, such as Father’s Day gift suggestions. The app retrieves recent searches, offers advice on hosting picnics, and provides weather forecasts, although its responses can be limited in diversity. For dinner planning, Sparky prompts users for meal ideas but currently lacks the ability to generate comprehensive meal plans. While it fell short in helping with specific product searches, Walmart executives assure that the technology will evolve, leveraging generative AI and future agentic AI capabilities. Desiree Gosby, Walmart’s senior VP, emphasizes that Sparky is foundational for Walmart’s vision of a modern shopping experience, aiming to revolutionize retail and improve customer satisfaction as technology advances.

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